Phase Two, Keith
by Tybalt-tisk
Summary: Lance is tired of waiting for Allura and Shiro to make a move, so he decides to throw a house party to help move things along.


**Summary** : _Lance is tired of waiting for Allura and Shiro to make a move, so he decides to throw a house party to help move things along._  
 **Warning** : _Lots of sexual tension. Touch-Starved Shiro. Implied Sexual Situations._

* * *

"Okay, soo..." Lance said slowly after he took another swig of whatever liquid was in his bottle as he stared at the scene before him. "Remind me exactly who's idea this was, again?" His tone held unbridled excitement, anticipation, and just a tad bit of narcissism.

Keith rolled his eyes and casually brought his legs up to rest on the small table with a hard thud. "Why do you keep asking us whose idea it was when we all know it was yours?" he responded dryly. He reached out to take Lance's drink and took his own sip before he quickly handed it back with a sour look.

Lance snorted at Keith's face. "I like the validation," he said truthfully, waving the half-empty bottle in Keith's direction. "I like the glory. But most importantly, most importantly than anything else, Keith..." A shit-eating grin crept to Lance's lips as he turned to look his teammate in the eye. "I like the fact that my plan worked and yours didn't." He thumped Keith's chest with the bottle as he spoke.

Keith folded his arms over his chest. "You call throwing a space house party and getting them trashed a plan?" Keith moved over a bit more into Lance when Pidge wedged her way onto the couch beside him. It was only a matter of time before Hunk joined them.

Lance downed the rest of his beer before he stood to get another one from the fridge. "Yes, Keith. Yes I do," came his distant reply from the kitchen. His tone was full of the confidence he knew he deserved. He came back with four distinct bottles and placed each one in front of a different spot; one for each Paladin. Keith took the bottle from Lance and eyed the foreign logo cautiously. If this is what Lance was drinking, he didn't want anything to do with it.

"Try it, it tastes more like a cider than a beer," Lance reassured him as he popped his bottle cap before he popped the other's one by one. "Also, your plan was going to take too long and honestly, my guy, ain't nobody got time for that. Not anymore. Nope. Not after years of sexual tension and-and of just them doing that-that thing they always do." He waved his hand around trying to fill in the blank.

Keith raised a brow. "What thing?"

Lance threw his head back to face the dimmed lights of the ceiling. "The pining, Keith," Lance said slowly as he spoke with his hands and it caused the alien beer to splash around. "The. Mutual. Pining. Keith. It's like some shitty rom-com where every time you think that they are going to kiss, but then some jackass interrupts them with some convoluted bullshit. And usually, that jackass is you."

Keith looked offended. "Me?"

"Yes, you because you don't know how to read a room!" he clarified aggressively. He lowered the pitch of his voice so he could mimic the boy beside him. "Hey, Shiro, can you come take a look at this? Allura, Kolivan wants to discuss something, you got a minute? Oh, Allura, Shiro what are you guys doing up so late?" His voice switched back to his own. "Bonding, Keith! They were having a bonding moment!"

"Oh, so you can recognize their bonding moment, but you can't recognize your own?" Pidge mocked as she fiddled with an electrical box.

"Not the time, Pidgy!" Lance yelled in the girl's directions. "Anyway, I'm tired of it. No more pining. No more missed connections. No more interruptions. Keith! Ya know why?" His head whipped around to face his teammates. "Ask me why. Go ahead. Ask me. I'll wait."

Pidge and Keith sighed in unison before they answered together sarcastically. "Why?"

"Because tonight is the night, Keith."

"Why do you keep saying my name? Katie is right here, too."

"Because I'm serious and you need to realize that, Keith." He pointed to the couple sitting on the couch across the room. "Just take a look at them and I dare you to tell me that I'm not a genius. Pidgy, back me up."

Pidge had her eyes glued at the couple in front of them. She'd never seen them look so...comfortable. So relaxed. So laid back.

So happy.

"He's right; you can't read a room to save your life." Keith folded his arms over his chest with a frown. He could so read a room. He could read the ass out of a room. He graduated with honors in Room Reading. Top 10% if they were being technical. "And also, enough is enough, Keith," she continued, not realizing Keith's inner turmoil. "We gotta get those two together and if getting them hammered is the only way to do it, then I say fuck it. Let's do it."

Lance shook his fist triumphantly. "That's my girl!" he hollered. His head whipped around looking for their missing teammate. "Hunk! Baby boy, Hunkalicious, where are you? It's time to move on to phase two."

Keith looked confused. "Phase two?"

"Phasefuckin'two,Keith," Lance said so quickly, it came out as one word. At this rate, Keith was sure that Lance wasn't too sober himself.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Hunk said hurriedly as he appeared with a tray of finger foods. To make room for Hunk, Pidge moved over into Keith and Keith, in turn, moved more over into Lance. Sitting shoulder to shoulder on the small couch wasn't something all that comfortable to say in the least. Without thinking, Lance moved his arm to rest around Keith's shoulders, creating more shoulder room but eliminating all personal space. The raven-haired boy felt his face heat up at the closeness and it was then that he realized that he needed a drink to get through this. He brought the bottle to his lips to take a few sips and was surprised to find that he actually enjoyed the beverage.

"Told you you'd like it," Lance whispered into his ear suddenly and it sent a chill up his spine. Did Lance's voice have to be so low and...sultry? Keith told himself that it was just the alcohol combined with the heat of his body peeking through because Lance's voice shouldn't have this kind of effect on him.

Hunk passed down the snacks. "Did I miss anything?" he asked in a tone that was on the edge of excitement as he watched their leader give their commander another drink from across the room.

Lance shook his head. "Nope, you're just in time." He took another swig of his beer before he snapped his fingers in a way that only he thought was cool. "Pidge. Do ya thing, baby."

Pidge rolled her eyes, but immediately closed the electrical box she was working on before she tinkered with the protruding knobs on the sides. Within seconds, the music gradually became louder and as predicted, the quartet watched as Allura moved closer into Shiro so she could speak to him over the loud music.

"This is going to be my greatest achievement," Lance absentmindedly said to himself as if he had just learned the secret to eternal life. "I'll go down in history as the ultimate wingman and my name is going to be written in the stars. Just you fucking watch, Keith."

"Can't wait," Keith grumbled in return.

"Okay, you guys," Hunk said through bites of his puff pastry, "we just can't sit here and stare at them the whole night."

"I can and I will," Lance stated, staring stubbornly ahead at the couple. "I did this. I deserve to watch. You guys can alternate or whatever. Or – OR, you can even watch me watch them and I can give you a play-by-play if that's what you really want to do with your life. Hunkleberry, I love you. You know that. You know I'd take a bullet for you, but baby, you got me fucked up if you think I'm taking my eyes away from this blatant act of divine intervention."

"Are you calling yourself a god?" Keith said before he popped a piece what he could almost classify as popcorn into his mouth.

Lance sunk deeper into the couch and the action dragged Keith along with him. "Bitch…" he started slowly before he took a long drink of his beer. "I just might be. Now, càllete so I can watch these bi disasters fall in love."

"They are already in love, they are just too stubborn to see it," Pidge spoke up. "You, on the other hand, you just want to watch them make out."

Lance shrugged to the best of his abilities with Keith in his side. "Ya damn right. I would pay top USD dollars to watch that."

"You do know that the D in USD stands for dollars, right?"

Lance turned his head slowly to stare at the teammate that was settled into his side. "...Keith, I'm so tired of your shit," Lance said in a tone that walked the line between agitation and boredom but tightened his arm around him, effectively negating his words. When Lance got drunk, Lance got clingy. "No more talking. No màs. We're going to sit here, we're going to watch them, and we're going to enjoy it." He brought his feet up to rest beside Keith's on the table and he took another drink and the others followed his lead wordlessly.

.~.xXx.~.

Shiro was having fun.

He's more than sure that he'd never heard Allura laugh so much in his life. It was such a beautiful sound, like church bells in the middle of war that called him to sanctuary. The sound resonated through every nerve in his body just so it could set his soul on fire and build him anew from the ashes that remained. But if that's what it took to keep her voice ringing, then he'd happily burn. His mind was hazy with some sort of alcoholic beverage and he couldn't exactly remember why she was laughing as hard as she was, because he knows he's not funny in the slightest, but he knows that her laughter is contagious in all the right ways. Maybe he said a joke that was funnier than he thought, or maybe she was just as tipsy as he was.

The couch was big enough for two, maybe three or even four, but it was definitely big enough to have a professional and respectable amount of distance between the two of them. But like moths to an open flame, like the sweetest addiction with no chance of rehabilitation, they sat with almost no space to separate them. He could smell the sweet scent of her perfume and it was just as intoxicating as the drink in his hand. It was a dangerous combination. He knew this and he knew it well, but he welcomed his fate the second her shoulder brushed up against his.

She sat with her feet tucked under her and she nestled her 3rd drink in her hands, and he had his arm draped over the back of the couch, welcoming her to him.

"So, wait, wait, wait." Allura shook her head rapidly and her loose curls, finally free from its bun, danced in the dimmed lights. Shiro was drunk enough to be mesmerized by the movement but sober enough to restrain himself from reaching out and running his fingers through the moonlight strands. "You're telling me that back on earth, males practice, 'pick-me-up lines' to attract potential lovers?"

Shiro chuckled deeply at her fascination with one of the embarrassing sides of earth culture. He told her long ago that he'd take her on a road trip around the states when the war was over. They had yet to make that dream a reality, so he opted to teach her all he could so she could be ready when they finally had the time. "They're called pick-up lines," he correctly lightly. "And it's not just males who do it, I've seen some women do it as well. But the answer to your question is yes, yes we do. We're an odd species."

She laughed again and he felt himself melt. "You most certainly are. Do they work?" she asked, completely intrigued by the new discovery.

"Sometimes." He shrugged and it made his shoulder brush up against hers. "It honestly depends."

She raised a perfect white brow, confused at his open-ended statement. "Depends on what?"

"Well, let's see, ...uh, it's a combination of things, actually. Like for instance, delivery is important, you can't just start spewing how much you want to spend the night with someone – you gotta ease into it. You also need to be confident because that a huge factor and a big turn on." He rattled off a few more credentials that may change the success rate of the life of a desperate player. "It also depends on whether the pick-up line is cheesy or not, but if the person is into them, none of those variables even matter."

She took another sip of her drink. The bitter taste was something she was slowly getting used to. "I guess that last condition would be quite the challenge for you to overcome." She smirked behind her cup and lightly tapped her nails against its edge.

He feigned offense and pointed to his chest. "Hey, people are into me! People are really into me." It was rare that he gave himself a boost of confidence. But alcohol will do that to a person.

Her fingers twitched around her cup. "They would be a fool not to be," she replied almost absentmindedly and his heart skipped a beat at her declaration. She always had that effect on him. Especially when she got like this; laid back and flirty with a loose tongue. "I am referring to the cheesy aspect that makes up your sense of humor and most likely influences your ability to deliver these pick-up lines with a desirable outcome."

"I'm offended. How dare you? I am not cheesy," he said before he brought his drink in front of them and stuck his pinky out. "I'm classy. Charming. Divine, if you will."

She rolled her eyes at the blatant string of lies. "Oh, please. Other than Coran, you are the cheesiest person I know."

"Oh wow, I'm just a step above Coran? That's a pretty harsh wakeup call, even coming from you, Princess," He addressed her as if though it were a childhood nickname instead of a royal title. Allura couldn't suppress the shiver that raced up her spine at the sound of it on his lips. She hid her blush with another sip of her beverage. It wasn't as strong or delicious as nunvil, but she did enjoy the bitter liquid nonetheless and she chose to drown her rationality in it.

An idea suddenly popped into her head and she resettled herself until she was completely facing him with a sly grin. "Alright, I'll give you a chance at redemption. Give me your best," she challenged.

Shiro almost choked. "You want me to use a pickup line…on you?" He asked her slowly, making sure he understood exactly what she wanted.

She smiled with a nod of her head. "Yup."

He stared at her. "Why?" He was testing the waters with her. So far, it was shallow enough to stand in his own but she had the potential to drown him if she wanted to and he knew that he wouldn't even try to save to himself if she tried.

"Because I want to see if you can woo me." She used the earth term he taught her on one of their many late night discussions and threw it back at him mischievously.

Any other time, Shiro would have felt his face heat up at just the thought of flirting with her. Hell, even just being this close to her was usually enough to reduce him to a bumbling fool. Every time she spoke directly to him, it made his heart pound wildly in his chest and whenever she touched him, intentional or not, it never failed to make his breath catch in his throat.

But tonight…

Tonight he's full of booze and he can't think straight to save his life and that only makes him more prone to make stupid, stupid decisions he knows he can't take back once he sobers up. His shyness is replaced with stolen confidence fueled by inebriation and his fear of rejection is completely diminished.

He thought for a second, trying to pick an example that was simple enough to get the point across but also not cheesy enough to ruin his reputation. When he finally landed on one, he turned to face her. It was cliche, but what did she know about earth cliches? He hadn't taught those her yet. "Alright here's a good one," he prompted. "You must be from Tennessee because you're the only ten I see." He finished the line with a boyish grin, proud of himself and he waited for her to feel the same.

Allura blinked at him. "What is a Ten Icy?"

He threw his head back with a groan. Of course she wouldn't know what Tennessee is, she's an alien. A gorgeous, amazing, tempting one at that. "It's a state," he grumbled out, slightly embarrassed.

"A state of what?" she asked curiously as she cocked her head to the side. "Water?" Holy shit, she was so cute.

"Its...its not important," he said in a defeated tone, and she laughed when she watched him deflate.

"So, I take it that I was right?" she teased. "I knew you were cheesy."

He brought his head up to face her. "I'd like to see you do better." It was his time to challenge her and in the back of his mind, he knew it was another one of his stupid, inebriated ideas. One, because she could be just as competitive as Lance, maybe worse because she always bent the rules to make sure she won. And two, because he knew they were going down a slippery slope without any brakes and they were quickly approaching a fork in the road without any indication of slowing down any time soon.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Alright," she said after a moment and gave him a look that could only mean trouble. "I'm sure I can come up with something better than that icy water you saw."

Shiro gave a low chuckle at the words she misheard, but it was cut short when she untucked her legs so she could drape them over his lap. He froze only for a second before he relaxed under the weight of her. He didn't know what possessed him - maybe it the alcohol mixed with years of pining. Or maybe it was the fact that he was tired of waiting. But his hand found its way to rest on her thighs and he somewhat felt cheated that it was his metal hand to make the first contact.

"I'm waiting for you to woo me," he said, faking impatience with a finger tapping rhythmically on her legs and her toes curled in response.

She made a thoughtful face before she smirked in his direction and Shiro knew that whatever she was about to say was going to ruin him. "I'm unsure if the translators will be able to pick this up but…" She straightened her back and put on a sultry voice that was interrupted by a tipsy giggle. "Okay, okay," she said trying to regain her composure. Watching her trying to refrain from being silly was the cutest thing Shiro had ever seen.

She cleared her throat before she started again and this time, her hand wandered over his shoulder to softly caress the short black hair at the nape of his neck. It was such a soft touch; so gentle and full of an emotion Shiro knows she doesn't have for him but he likes to be greedy by pretending that she does.

He closed his eyes at the touch and let out a sigh. "This is cheating and even though you just recently learned what a pick-up line is, I feel like you know this."

"I do."

"Well, get on with it," he prompted her. He didn't want her hands to leave him, but he didn't know how much longer he could take before he had another stupid idea.

"Don't rush me, it's a part of the process," she countered, watching how her paladin reacted to her caresses.

"You're just stalling at this point."

She laughed. "I am," she confessed. "You're just so easy to rile up, but I suppose I've stalled long enough. If I correctly understood the objective of these pick-up lines, then the goal is to attain a lover with a simple, although somewhat sexual statement that shows interest, yes?"

He clenched his jaw and nodded slowly, his hand tightening on her thigh and she twitched in retaliation.

"Okay...so what about shrugle, xhsol, and a glass of thypolïw?" she asked curiously and it snatched his attention away from her touches. He looked at her with confusion at the foreign words the translators couldn't decipher. She smiled continued to speak, "Oh, or maybe you would like some bextorl instead?"

His mind went through the rolodex of Altean words she taught him and when none sounded familiar, he gave her a lost look, and she went in for the kill. "Oh, don't worry, I was just making of a list of the things I was making you for breakfast in the morning."

Holy shit.

He definitely wasn't expecting that. He felt hustled. Bamboozled. Hoodwinked.

Turned on.

He stared at her with wide eyes and she let the fit of giggles finally consume her to the point where she had to double over to catch her breath. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. "Oh ancients, your face was priceless!" she laughed out. "I'm assuming that I am better at this than you are?" Yes, she was. She was better at a lot of things. Ruining his life was at the top of things she was better at.

He took a long drink of his beverage before he cleared his throat. "Yeah, that was...I mean...it was alright. But ya know," he said, leaning into her. "it's not fair because you had an unfair advantage; you are ridiculously distracting for someone who is supposed to be regal and posh." He gestured towards her legs and even though the sober part of him is screaming, he couldn't stop his metals fingers from running up her bare shins and she twitched at the tingling sensation.

She could barely hold in a laugh. "H-how so?" she questioned, but still continued to shuffle at the feeling of his hand dancing on her legs, leaving embers in their wake.

He watched her reaction for a moment, noticing how much she was quivering under his touch. He briefly wondered if he had the same breath-halting effect on her that she had on him. He couldn't see a blush, but he could see the faint glow of her markings and the way she bit her lip to stifle what he thought was laughter.

"Are you ticklish?" he finally asked, his hand still tracing circles in her legs just to watch her squirm. It was payback in the purest form.

She shook her head. "No, not necessarily."

He made a questioning noise as he nodded his head slowly. "Then what's this?" He said lowly with another slow trace up her legs, and this time, a sound did escape her lips. It was somewhere between a gasp and stuttered chuckle and it did things to Shiro that he knew it shouldn't.

She buried her face in his shoulder to hide her reaction from him and her free hand blindly reached out to stop his assault. "S-stop!" she almost begged and this time he did.

"I thought you said you weren't ticklish?" he teased once he let up.

"I'm not!" came her muffled reply, her head still buried in his shoulder. "My legs are just…"

"Ticklish?"

"Sensitive."

"That's the same thing."

"It's not!" she countered almost childishly, but there wasn't an ounce of hostility in her tone. "My legs are…" she paused as she tried to think of the right term, "something like an erroneous zone for me."

He thought about her words for a second because his thoughts were blurred with alcohol and his brain struggled to find the meaning behind her statement. When it finally made a connection with his brain, his face heated up and he immediately jerked his hand away from her. "Oh, shit! I'm so sorry, Allura! I didn't realize!" Stupid, stupid. He knew that she was going to be the death of him, and her only contender was his own stupidity.

Her markings continued to glow faintly in the dim lighting of the room. "It's quite alright. Just don't touch them...like that again and we should be fine," she told him but didn't move put any distance between them.

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, neither wanting to disturb the peace they suddenly found themselves in even if it was at the expense of setting new boundaries. It was times like this; when the silence was so loud, all he could do was think about a world of what ifs. He's met a few people in his life that shaped him for the better, but none of them ever affected him the way she did. She was passionate, kind, and packed full of determination. She was also probably the most stubborn person he had ever met. But that's what made her a great leader. That's what made her Allura.

That's what made him fall in love with her.

He didn't know the exact moment he fell in love with her, but he knew that every day since then, she took a little more of him and made it her own. His heart belonged to her and he's sure she doesn't even know it.

A quick jab to his shoulder brought him back to reality. "Stop doing that," she told him suddenly over the loud music, and he held his breath in fear. Was he talking out loud?

His jaw clenched and his fingers itched for a distraction. "Doing what?" He was good at a lot of things but playing dumb was at the top of the list.

She waved her hand sluggishly around trying to find the words to describe exactly she wanted to say, and the ice rattled in her cup, indicating that her cup was now empty. "You do this thing where you think too much," she finally said.

Shiro blinked. "I'm not thinking too much." That was a fucking lie.

She narrowed her eyes and clicked her tongue. "You're lying, I can see it written all over your face. You're going to get worry lines prematurely if you keep it up." She brought her hand up to touch her index finger to his forehead, and he scrunched up his face at the contact. "They'll start here, first."

He hummed at her delicate touch. "...And then where?" he asked, not out of curiosity, but out of his own selfishness. He adored how soft and warm she felt on his skin. It was a new sensation, a new branch in his addiction to all that is her, added to the ever growing list.

The tip of her finger slowly drifted down from his forehead to the corner of his eye. "Here. And from there, to your cheeks…" Her voice drifted off into a whisper, barely audible over the loud music.

"Oh yeah?" he said, almost in a trance. He had been touched starved for so long and now that he has it, he doesn't ever want to let it go. She had no idea what she did to him. Being so close to her but not being able to cross that blurred line was a sweet torture. It was like an ocean constantly pushing him to the edge of insanity, only for the tide to pull him back just before he went over. "Then?"

Her eyes pierced his for a moment. Her expression is just as unreadable as ever, but now that she isn't completely sober, it's damn near impossible to understand what she wants from him. But Shiro sees something in her eyes, he may be reading it wrong, but it's all he has. She looks as if though she is asking for his permission. Permission for what? Shiro had no idea but he gave it to her regardless. She could ask for every star in the galaxy and he'd find a way to give them to her.

Her gaze left his before it drifted down to his lips and her touch followed immediately after. Maybe she misjudged the distance between her fingers and him, or maybe she had this planned all along, but her thumb brushed up against the curve of his lips subtly and Shiro never felt so alive. Without an ounce of hesitation, as if though it were embedded in his genes; as if he was born with the sole purpose to love her and love all that is her, he kissed the edge of her thumb as it passed by his lips.

Her eyes widen a fraction before she pulled away with a deep breath before she spoke. "Sorry."

He licked his lips where she had touched him to savor the faint taste of her. "Don't be." He held in a laugh when he saw her markings start to glow again. It was a good feeling knowing that he could give her a taste of her own medicine by giving her just a glimpse of what she constantly did to him.

When she brought her cup up to take another sip, she frowned when she realized that his cup was empty. He downed the rest of his bottle. "Do you want another drink?" he asked, taking her cup away from her. Not trusting her voice just yet, she nodded in confirmation. Gently, he nudged her legs and she removed them from his lap. "I'll be right back," he told her.

She tossed him a wink. "I'll be right here waiting."

Shiro ventured through the crowd to make his way to the kitchen. He walked as straight as he possibly could, but he still found himself teetering every now and again. When he passed his teammates on the way, he stopped to address them. His eyes lingered on Keith, taking in the boy's situation; he was nestled up against Lance and sharing a bowl of popcorn that laid between them. He raised a brow but kept quiet when the moody boy sent him a glare in return. "Hey, you guys. Having a good time?"

Each paladin answered in their own way at the same time:

"Yup."

"I guess."

"I'm having a great time."

"I'm having the best day of my fucking life," Lance's answer stood out the most. It was full of energy and mischief.

Shiro couldn't help the goofy smile that came to his lips. "Me too." With that, he disappeared into the kitchen to refill their drinks and possibly took a shot or two.

Lance waited until Shiro was out of earshot before he spoke with conviction just so he could gloat in front of the others. "I did this. Remember that." The others didn't even bother to contradict him. His plan worked out better than any of them could have imagined. Who would have thought? Now he would never let them forget it.

"Wait, where did Allura go?" Hunk asked when he noticed the missing princess, and they all turned their heads to see the couch now occupied by other party guests.

Lance sat up, almost knocking over the popcorn in the process but Keith moved it before it could fall over. "Let's not panic, she probably went just to the bathroom to put on some chapstick because homegirl is gonna need it pretty soon," Lance told them as he scanned the room with careful eyes.

"But there's people sitting in their spot," Pidge told him. "Should I go move them before they get back?"

Lance thought for a moment before his eyes landed on a single cushioned seat that wasn't too far off to the side. "No...this is...this is fucking perfect." He turned to face the others. "Hunk, baby, you pocketful of sunshine, I need you to move that chair over and turn it towards us. The rest of you, help me turn the couch." Lance looked to the kitchen to see Shiro take another shot of a gilded confidence booster. "We got about 30 seconds before he works up the courage to go back. So we gotta work fast. Keith, you go distract him. Wait. No, no, no, Pidg'ems, you go." The girl didn't need to be told twice before she jumped over the back of the couch to speak to their leader about a space creature they should adopt sometime soon. Maybe in this state, she could actually talk him into it.

Keith's mouth hung open. "Why couldn't I go?" he asked with a frown.

Lance's head whipped towards him and he narrowed his eyes. "Because I don't know how, but I know you and you have a track record of ruining things. Now, help me move this couch so we can get a good view!" Lance pulled desperately at the heavy couch, urging Keith to pull his weight.

Within the minute, the chair was moved, the couch was angled, and each paladin was back in their respective spots. "Did you guys move the couch?" Shiro asked as he walked passed them with a cup in each hand.

"No," they all answered simultaneously, feigning innocence.

Shiro frowned. "It looks...different?"

"Then maybe you should lay off the drinks and get your eyes checked," Lance countered through a mouthful of popcorn. "This couch has always been like this since the dawn of time."

Shiro sighed with a shrugged and continued to walk back to his meeting spot with Allura. From the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of white and he turned to see her reentering the room. He stared at her like he always did when she entered the room but this time, he swears that she's more beautiful than she was just a minute ago if that was even possible. She approached him with a pout. "Someone took our seats." She pointed to the now occupied couch.

Shiro wasn't bothered. It wasn't overcrowded and there were plenty of other seats that could be used as a replacement. He looked around for another location and his search ended when Allura pointed to another spot before she hurried off to occupy it before anyone else did. Shiro didn't see what space she was talking about until she sat in the chair that reminded him of his grandfather's chair back on earth. It was big and padded.

And it only had one seat.

"Well?" she said once she got in the seat. "What are you waiting for? Take a seat." She playfully patted her thighs as an invitation for him to sit down on them. He rolled his eyes at her implied indication before he moved the two cups to balance in one of his hands so his other was free to pull her up and out of the chair. She giggled when he pulled her up into him before he switched their positions and pulled her back down to sit in his lap.

She wasted no time getting comfortable. She brought her legs up to drape over the armrest and she moved her arm so it could rest behind his head and over his shoulders. She took both of their drinks from him so he could adjust her to keep her from falling off and when he was done rearranging her, she handed his drink back but not before she took a sip of it.

"They're both the same," he laughed once he was comfortable.

"Just making sure," she said before she took a sip of her cup. She was quiet for a moment and gave him a displeased look.

He sighed before he switched her drinks. "My god, you're so spoiled. Y'know that?" he baited her playfully.

She happily exchanged cups and brought her lips close to whisper in his ear. "Only by you." Shiro's glad he isn't sober because he didn't think he could have handled that is he was. He probably couldn't handle any of this. He had the woman that haunted his dreams sitting in his lap like it's her goddamn thrown and she's speaking in a voice she has no business using on him.

He's never been this close to her. Sure, they had many late night discussions when neither could sleep and sometimes those discussions cautiously approached those blurred lines that separated the commander from the leader. Those lines were often stepped on, tested, stressed, but they were never crossed. He's more than positive that those lines were crossed the second he agreed to have a "House Party".

"You're doing it again."

"Thinking too much." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." She tightened her arm around Shiro as if to bring herself closer to him. "You tend to do it a lot when we're alone. Tell me, Shiro, what is it that distracts you so much?" Her voice is full of sin; sultry and commanding as it effortlessly wrapped itself around every corner of his mind to conquer as her own.

"You." He's too far gone to put up a fight and he will always surrender to her without her even asking him to.

If she was surprised by his sudden confession, she didn't show it. But something changed in her eyes that, like always, Shiro can't decipher. It's a look full of curiosity that's diluted with certainty.

"What about me?" she questioned in a whisper. "What about me distracts you?"

He can't pinpoint exactly what it is. Not with her hand finding its way back to the short hair at the nape of his neck. Not when she caressed him just the way she knows will have him telling her everything she wanted to know. "Everything."

This was dangerous.

"Tell me." And she fucking knew it.

"I already told you; it's everything about you," he said truthfully and tightened his hold on her. "You...you're amazing and powerful...intelligent. Everything you do has a purpose and you act as if you aren't afraid of failure. And even if you do fail, you find another way to accomplish your goal."

She searched his eyes for a lie an when she didn't find any, she spoke boldly. "Is that all?" She's so close to getting what she wants and he's so close to just giving it to her.

"And you're fucking gorgeous, bossy, and...a goddamn tease." He no longer had control over his tongue and all rationality is out of the window. "And I fear that…" His voice trailed off when he felt a small dose of sobriety peak through his consciousness to hold his tongue.

"You fear what?" She wanted him to say it and he knew it.

"It's nothing." But he couldn't.

He didn't want to ruin what they had. He was being selfish, putting their team dynamic on the line for his own gain.

Allura's entrancing touches stopped suddenly and she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. She looked down at him and for the first time, he could read her expression; it was a tangled combination of disappointment and irritation. "Why won't you say it?" She said the words so clear and concise that there's no way to misinterpret what she meant. It's almost like an exhilarating slap to the face and for a second, Shiro wondered if they were both suddenly sober.

"Because I'm afraid," he admitted.

Silence plagued them for a moment and it allowed the weight of his words to set in. Just when he thought she was going to get up and leave him alone with his own mistakes, she made a thoughtful sound and returned her fingers where they belonged. "You know what happens when you're afraid?"

His eyes met hers and his fingers twitched around her waist. "What?"

"You start to think too much," she said. "And you know what happens when you think too much?"

"I'll get 'worry lines'."

She nodded. "Precisely," she agreed. "And they'll start here, first." She brought her lips to his forehead and planted a soft kiss there. Shiro's hand instinctively tightened around her and felt his heart pound wildly in his chest. The sound was strong and steady, completely drowning out the music and her lips, softer than the finest silk, on his skin overwhelmed his senses.

Shiro stared at wide-eyed at her when she pulled away. He should stop this. He should stop this before he loses himself in her and he does something they'll both regret. But he's selfish – he's so fucking selfish. So instead he leaned closer to her and said, "And then where?"

Allura grinned at his words, both spoken and unspoken, and she brought her lips back his skin to touch the corner of his eye. "Then here." Her lips drifted to meet his reddened cheek. "And from there, to your cheeks..." She paused in her ministrations when she came to his lips. Her eyes searched his, giving him the chance to stop her and extinguish the raging fire that burned between them. They were at the point of no return and both are too stubborn and too drunk in love to turn back now.

He let a steady breath and smirked. "Oh yeah?" he repeated his words from earlier when he found himself in a familiar situation. Just this time, it wasn't her thumb, it was something he craved desperately for. "Then where, Allura?"

She was so close, he could feel her heart beating through her clothes and he marveled in the fact that they were beating in sync as if they were singing the same song. When she leaned in, he closed his eyes and just when his lips met hers, a deep voice resonated through the room and it caught everyone's attention. Both jerked their heads to see who the newcomer was and they let out a simultaneous groan when they saw King Kryset, from XSV-3.

"Princess Allura!" The man shouted at seeing his friend. He clearly didn't understand good timing and made it known to everyone present. "How nice it is to see you! You must show me around this lovely castleship. It's exquisite! You said that Coran's grandfather constructed it? Oh my! The artistry and architecture are divine!" The man didn't have good timing and he was notorious for talking too much when no one asked him to.

Shiro groaned as he stared daggers at the man. "He's an important ally, isn't he?"

"Unfortunately," she said annoyed and closed her eyes in a vain attempt to ward off an oncoming headache at answering the eccentric man's rapid questions that were sure to come. Even on a day off, she was still a princess and still had her duties to fulfill. The war always came first, even at her own expense. She looked at him apologetically with a sigh before she reluctantly separated from him. His hold tightened on her for just a fraction of a second before he let her go and allowed her to slip from his embrace. He was so close...just a second more, and he could have tasted her.

Shiro hated to see her go, but he loved to watch her leave, even under these unfortunate circumstances. His only relief was when she grinned and sent him a wink over her shoulder before she escorted the egotistical king around and introduced him to other party goers.

.~.xXx.~.

Lance stared wide-eyed at the disaster he just witnessed that ended with Shiro sitting alone in a chair with his lap empty and his heart aching. This wasn't happening. They were so close. "What the fuck just happened?" he whispered in disbelief. "What the fuuuck? Who invited King whatshisface?!"

Keith sank further into the couch and slapped his hand across his face. "...You said it was a house party and to invite people," he grumbled out, and everyone let out an audible groan.

Lance looked like he was disrespected. "Un-fuckin-believable, Keith," Lance said slowly. "You know, I knew you would somehow ruin this for us. I knew it. I told myself, let me tell you what I told myself, I told myself, I said 'Keith is gonna find a way to fuck this up.' But I gave you the benefit of the doubt and now here you are, fuckin this up, Keith."

Keith raised his hands in defense. "I didn't know he'd do that!"

"What do you mean? He's just as bad as reading the room as you are!"

"I thought it would be good for the coalition!" he explained.

Lance pulled at his hair in frustration. "The co-the coalition!? Goddammit Keith, it's a house party, you stupid, beautiful, majestic ass bitch."

Keith froze. Beautiful?

Lance sunk back into the couch, completely defeated and threw his head back. "My plan. It's ruined. After the hours upon hours of planning, there it goes. Wave goodbye to it, Keith. You did this." Lance was drunk. Really drunk. He didn't know what he was saying but at the same time, he knew exactly what he was saying. He had spent the last few hours watching the couple across the room like he was in a movie and gave them his full, undivided attention and to watch it all fall flat, sent him over the edge.

Keith looked at Pidge and Hunk, who in turn just shook their heads. "Oh, c'mon not you guys, too!"

Pidge started to wave her hand in the air slowly. "Goodbye the Best Laid Plan, we hardly knew ye."

Hunk came to Keith's defense. "Hey, you guys. Keith didn't know that by inviting the most talkative guy in the galaxy to the party, that he would indirectly ruin the closest we've ever gotten to getting those two together."

Keith blinked slowly. "...Thanks, Hunk. That really made me feel better," he said sarcastically, and Hunk patted him on the shoulder in apology.

"Are you proud, Keith?" Lance said dryly from the couch, still looking blankly at the ceiling. The bottle in his hand was empty but he still swished it around like it was full.

"Dude, I swear I didn't know," Keith said. "I'll make it up to you."

Lance raised his head to look at him with a raised brow. "How? By turning back the hands of time?  
Keith crashed on the couch beside him. "Nah, that sounds hard. But we can think of something else? Maybe lock them in a closet next week?" he said with a small laugh, hoping to get Lance to agree.

Lance closed his eyes. He was tired, drunk, and disappointed in everyone but himself. When he spoke, his tone lost all hostility and was replaced with exhaustion. "Yeah, that sounds nice. We'll call it, Closet of Bicuriousity. Yeah...that's what we'll do."

Keith smiled. "That's a good name." That was a terrible name.

Lance yawned loudly and stretched his limbs. "You guys, can we take a quick nap? Team nap are the best naps."

Pidge stared blankly. "We're at a party and it's loud."

"The best time to nap." The idea that Lance had a big family and often slept through loud parties was lost to them and he was out before any of them could comment further on it.

.~.xXx.~.

Lance woke up with sore limbs and a major headache, but his body still somehow felt comfortable. When he couldn't move as he wanted to, he opened his eyes and noticed that Keith had his arms around him. He took in his surroundings and realized that they had fell asleep on the same sofa as last night. So he got his way after all. Hunk and Pidge were piled up on the couch as well and around them, numerous members of the party goers also made various surfaces their place of rest.

The castleship's light had a hazy effect to them, telling Lance that it was the early in the day cycle. Way too early to be getting up. Careful to not wake his companions, Lance took Keith's arm from around him and slowly slid out from under its weight. When he was free from, he stood and stretched his aching limbs, sighing contently when his back popped. Last night, he had passed out before he got to do any of his nightly facial regimens. He was not about to have a breakout in space because of one missed cleansing.

He stepped over passed out attendees and picked up bottles along the way to avoid anyone stepping and ultimately shattering glass. When he was out of the battlefield of sleeping land mines and sure to be hungover people, he made his way to his room.

Last night was amazing. And he was close, so close to achieving his goal. But there was always next time. He wasn't one to give up and not minding his own business was no exception.

As soon as he rounded the corner to get to his room, he froze in his tracks. There, not even a few feet in front of him stood Shiro outside of Princess Allura's door. He was sliding his shirt over his head and even though his body is littered with scars, Lance saw the unmistakable faint redness of nail markings that trailed down his back to his hips and love marks covered his chest and neck. Before him stood their princess, half dressed in what Lance was sure was one of Shiro's shirts and her hair a tangled mess. Lance could bet money that her body was littered with the same markings she gave to Shiro.

Lance watched as Shiro bent down slightly to place a chaste kiss on Allura's lips and her arms wrapped around his body to hold on to the waistband of his pants. After a moment, he pulled away and murmured something Lance couldn't quite pick up, but he did notice the faint glow of Allura's markings after he said it. Shiro gave her another kiss before he turned to go back to hurry his own room, probably hoping that he didn't run into anyone on the way.

Neither noticed Lance standing there in shock. Slowly, a smile came to his face that quickly morphed into a silent scream.

"Phase fuckin two, baby!"

His face mask could wait, he had gloating to do. He couldn't wait to rub it in Keith's face.

* * *

This idea was given to me by a friend who wanted a birthday fic of tipsy Shallura. It was supposed to only be about 2k, but...I completely got carried away as you can see. Thank you guys for reading and leave reviews if you liked it! :)


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